Six Degrees of Seperation: Unraveled
by firedancer34
Summary: Book 2: Shepard is dead. What will happen with her beloved crew and those she loved? This is the story of their struggle to move forward. Takes place after Shepard's death at the beginning of ME2 and before her resurrection. It's rated M for a reason folks.
1. Author's Note

**Author's Note:**

Hello everyone and thank you for all of your encouragements, comments, and helpful critiques on my first book of the series. Life has been crazy (in the mostly good sense) for me this past year so I apologize that this has taken so long to get out. Because I am still in the midst of a huge out of country work push right now, new chapters may take a little while to post, but I promise to keep them coming as quickly as I can! A little about this next book:

It's going to be a little different from my last story, Tangled. This will be taking place entirely between Shep's death and her resurrection. It will deal a little with what I know of the comic canon, but there is going to be a lot of new content here. Basically I wanted to fill in some plot gaps that bugged me from ME2, and have some fun tying things together a little more than we see in the game. I would like to thank those of you who have made some suggestions and requests to help steer the story in certain directions at times. I will be overhauling the last book at some point in the future to fix some glaring mistakes (sole survivor vs Butcher of Torfan) but that is a project for down the road when I have lots of spare time! In the meantime I will be fixing a few little ones along the way as I continue on (like Dr. Chakwas's first name actually being Karin instead of Carolyn). I hope you enjoy the end result.

This story is much darker, angsty, and will of course deal with some rather mature content at times. And yes….it is a femslash based story so you have been warned! I do not own these characters, the game, or the Mass Effect universe (sadly) and so therefore I make no money off any of this. It is purely for my enjoyment. Please repost on other sites with author's permission only.

Thank you and I hope you enjoy!


	2. Bad Tidings

** Tali Zorah/ Ashley Williams**

_Twenty hours after the destruction of the Normandy….._

Tali sank gratefully onto her bed, too weary to even bother with cleaning her suit. Their mission had been particularly brutal, but the new teams had performed well, and they had been successful in not only shutting down another Geth stronghold, but gathering some intel on their current movements and a few more potential locations. She just wished Reegar hadn't ridden them all so hard. The Quarian Marine had been overly terse with everyone, including Tali, and had been fairly critical of what she thought had been great performances on everyone's part. She wondered what had crawled into his suit and gotten him all worked up, but it was a concern for later….after she'd had a good night's rest.

Five minutes later, her dozing was interrupted by the buzzer that announced visitors and she was tempted to ignore it. "Computer, who is at my door?" she mumbled.

_Commander Reegar_

The young Quarian woman muttered a strong of oaths that she'd picked up in several different languages during her stay on Normandy and then pushed herself out of bed. She shuffled over to the door and hit the panel that would allow entry to her room.

"Commander," Tali greeted in a somewhat cool tone.

"Tali Zorah, I apologize for disturbing you," he said as he entered the room. "But you have a priority call from Chief Williams."

Tali frowned. Why had Reegar come all the way down to her quarters to tell her that she had a call when all he had to do was-

"Keelah….no," she whispered fearfully as she turned towards her comm panel and slapped the receive button. Moments later, Ashley's haggard features filled the screen and Tali gasped. "Ashley!"

The brunette didn't even try to force a smile in greeting. Not when it was clear that she was valiantly struggling not to break down before she could even talk. Reegar discreetly moved behind Tali and placed a supportive hand on her shoulder. "Ashley, what's happened?" she finally managed to ask.

"The Normandy was ambushed Tali. We were running stealth, and one minute things were fine and the next an unidentified ship was firing on us. Normandy was no match for their weapons and we lost her-," Ashley began, her voice breaking.

Tali gave her a moment to try and compose herself, but tears were streaking down her face silently, and the young Quarian dreaded asking the next question. "What of the crew?"

"We lost almost half during the attack and several more while waiting for help. Wrex and Garrus made it through ok. Joker's banged up badly but alive. Chakwas made it through as well. But Adams is in critical condition and the Doc is still not sure he will pull through."

There was another long pause as Ashley swallowed hard several times. The tears continued to streak unchecked down her face. "The Commander….Alex went to rescue Joker and then was spaced during the last volley. She…she didn't make it Tali," she finally informed her friend in a hoarse whisper as her shoulders began to shake.

"Oh….Keelah…no," Tali cried out, her head bending in grief at the news as her own tears fell behind her faceplate. "Liara?" she finally managed to ask.

Ashley's eyes closed at that point and despite her efforts to control it, a sob broke free. "I don't know if she will make it either. She…something happened that I can't explain. I don't know how exactly, but we both FELT Alex die. It was horrible Tali. Now Liara is in a coma and on life support and the Asari doctor who was just brought in a few hours ago said that there is a chance Liara may never recover from the psychological trauma she suffered when their bond was broken."

"Oh Gods Ashley…..I am so sorry."

There was a long minute of silence as both women sank into their own grief and despair. Finally Reegar cleared his throat. "Chief Williams, you have my deepest condolences and that of the Quarian Admiralty. I have appraised them of the situation and have already given the order to head to the Normandy's last known coordinates to assist in any way that we can."

Ashley nodded and cleared her throat. "I'm sure Admiral Hackett would appreciate that. They….we were in orbit and the debris got caught in the planet's gravity. Right now they are trying to recover as much as they can for the families of those who have been lost."

"I have been granted a week's leave to aid your people. I will see to it that arrangements are made for Tali Zorah to be allowed boarding permission as soon as we arrive."

"Thank you, Kal Reegar. Your thoughtfulness is appreciated," Ashley managed to say with as much professionalism as possible. But he could tell her control was rapidly slipping.

Sensing that the two women needed some time alone he squeezed Tali's shoulder. "I am truly sorry for the loss of your friend and former Commander, Tali- Zorah. Should you need anything, you only need to call. I'll leave you in peace now."

She nodded, still in shock and barely able to acknowledge her commanding officer. He sighed to himself and then left, his heart heavy with the loss of the noble human whom he had come to have great respect and admiration for. Kal was also worried about how this would affect his second in command during upcoming missions. While nothing had ever been said, and there had been no outward signs, he was quite certain that Tali's feelings for the human were more than just friendly ones. In fact, he'd observed that Shepard, Williams, T'Soni, and Tali seemed unusually close. It had been quite interesting to watch three entirely different species interact on such a personal level. From what he'd heard in the call, it would seem that his instincts hadn't been far off. As he walked back to his room, he sent a silent prayer in hopes that Shepard's soul would be guided to whatever resting place her people believed in, and that the gods would watch over those she left behind.

It was a good minute after he left before Tali finally found her voice. "Ashley….I…I don't know what to say," she whispered.

"I'm so sorry Tali," Ash responded, her voice and control finally breaking completely. "She ordered me to help with the evacuations while she went to rescue Joker. She had her suit on, but something must have happened in the explosion. Damn it! I should have stayed with her!" the brunet cried angrily as she slapped the table in grief.

"Ashley, it is likely you would have been lost as well, and if that happened, Liara would most certainly be dead by now. Alex needed to know that the crew was being taken care of and she knew that you would see to it," Tali tried to reason.

"I promised damn it. I promised I would always have her back," Ashley sobbed in despair.

Tali reached out, her long fingers stroking the screen. "I wish I could be there right now. But I know you did everything you could and needed to. Tell me….did others live because you followed Shepard's orders?"

Ashley sniffed and nodded hesitantly. "Yeah…maybe…."

"Then you did what she wanted. Her crew always came first, and you were seeing to that."

Ashley looked away, her expression still full of guilt and closed her eyes as she rubbed her head in pain. "Were you injured during the attack?" Tali asked, concerned. There was a strange bruising around the other woman's eyes and along her temples.

Ashley shook her head. "Shook up some, but this is all from…whatever it was that happened when Liara's bond to Alex was broken. The Asari Matriarch said that because Liara was Joined with both of us, she instinctively reached out to me and pulled me in when Alex….died. The matriarch said we are both lucky. Usually someone as young as Liara doesn't survive and brutal loss like that because they don't have the experience to control the intensity of the Joining just yet. Apparently my presence grounded her enough to come through it alive. She was also surprised my brain wasn't fried by the link. The Doc has done multiple scans and it did a number on me, but she says with some rest and time, I'll heal." There was a lengthy pause. "Physically at least," she added in a bare whisper.

At a loss for what to say, and fighting valiantly to stay strong for her friend, Tali swallowed hard and took a steadying breath. "Liara is strong Ashley. You know this. She will come through this, and together you can pick up the pieces. If you need me, I will put in a request to my father to transfer my assignment."

Ashley managed a faint smile around a sniffle. "That's really thoughtful of you Tali. You have always gone out of your way for us. But we'll see what happens in the coming days. Most of us are going to be put on mandatory leave and Hackett has already warned that there will be mandatory psych evaluations. I don' think most of us will be passing them any time soon, and honestly? I don't want to leave Liara's side right now. For now, you'll be here in several hours, and that's good enough for me."

"Get some rest then, and I will be there as soon as possible."

"Thank you….I'm so sorry."

"Shhhhh. It's not your fault. It's not anyone's fault but those who attacked you. We'll get through this Ash. If Alex taught us anything, it was to never give up even when things were at their darkest."

Ashley merely nodded and then touched the screen. "I'll see you in a little bit. Safe journey, Tali."

Tali pressed her own fingers against the glass, wishing she could reach out physically to comfort her friend. "I will see you soon Ashley. Get some rest while you can and let Dr. Chakwas take care of you."

"I'll try."

Tali let the other woman cut off the transmission and held up her brave front for those last several long moments. But as soon as her screen went dark, the young Quarian woman gave in to her grief and despair. Folding in on herself, massive sobs wracked her slight frame as her heart seemed to shatter at the loss of a love never fully known. It was more than an hour later that she even found the energy to drag herself from her chair to her bed, where she collapsed into a grief stricken sleep filled with a sadness that she could have never fathomed before.

~ASHLEY~

The weary brunette stared at the dark screen for many long minutes after she had ended the transmission. It wasn't until the Doc came in that she finally realized that she had been staring blankly at the screen for a quite some time.

"Ashley, you need your rest," the older woman reminded her gently.

Ashley gazed at her bruised visage in the dark screen, a harsh reminder of what she'd suffered through as Shepard had died, and closed her eyes as she felt her stomach rise in her throat once more. She had already been sick more times than she'd like to admit and knew there was nothing left for her stomach to reject. "I know, Doc," she whispered. "I'm just…..scared," she finally admitted. Every time she closed her eyes, all she could see was the blinding agony that had been Alex's death, and she knew that sleep would only bring more traumatized memories to the surface.

Chakwas seemed to understand. "I'll give you something that will knock you out- no dreams," she promised sympathetically. Then her gaze hardened a bit. "But this will only be a temporary solution, Chief. You along with everyone else in this crew will need to receive psychological assistance."

Ashley sighed heavily and rubbed at her aching temples. "You too Doc?"

A hand rested on her shoulder. "Even me," the older woman answered. "Aside from checking in on my friends, I have already been relieved from active duty. Now let's get you back to bed before the good Lieutenant starts to worry," Chakwas urged gently.

Ashley pushed herself to her feet and groaned as the room spun. "Easy does it," Chakwas murmured as she helped to support the brunette until she was steady enough to walk back out into the main bed-bay. Once there she helped re-settle Ashley in the bed next to Liara and pulled the sheets up. "Now don't you worry about a thing Chief. I will make sure that if anything important goes down you will be the first to know." She held up an injector that she had been preparing. "This will help you rest for at least the next ten hours."

"Thank you, Karin, for everything you did for her….for us." Ashley told her in a strangled whisper, tears streaking down her face.

Karin Chakwas looked down at the hand that was gripping her own tightly…..desperately and swallowed hard as a few tears of her own escaped. "This crew became my family Ashley. But you three? You three became something a lot more special than that, and I hope you know that Ashley. I wasn't able to save Alex, but I will do everything in my power to make sure Liara comes back to us," she promised the younger woman with firm resolve in her eyes.

"I know you will," Ashley answered, assured that the Doc would look after Liara for her.

"Get some rest my dear. We all still have a very long road ahead of us and we have some very big shoes to fill in the coming months."

Ashley merely nodded and closed her eyes as she felt the drug start to take hold of her. A couple of minutes later, as she began to drift off she felt another presence sit quietly in a chair next to her bedside and managed to drag her eyes open to see an exhausted looking Lt Garvey resting in the chair next to her. "LT?" she croaked out.

"Thought I'd keep an eye on my best Ops Chief for a little while," he noted her eyes widen a little at new rank and managed a bit of a sad smile. "You heard right Chief. The Admiral gave me the news himself. I'm sorry the Commander wasn't the one to be giving you the good news though," he added, sincere regret in his tone and expression. "She was one hell of a CO."

Brown eyes closed in agony before he could see the true depth of her own emotions and loss at the moment. "She was," she choked out.

He leaned forward and gently took her hand in his own. "Chief…..Ash….I'm truly sorry for you loss and everything you and Liara went through when she died. I can't even imagine what that must have been like. But you helped me when anyone else in your position would have gladly sank a knife into my back. I want you to know that I will always have your six…whenever you need me."

Her eyes opened at his quiet words and she stared hard at him for several long moments. He knew. He knew and was willing to look the other way because she had earned both his trust and respect. What she saw in his gaze almost caused her to break down completely again. And she knew he would have held her and helped her put the pieces back into place if that was what she needed of him. But she needed something else from him. Fighting the pull of the medication, she struggled to stay awake.

"Thank you," she exhaled sincerely. Closing her eyes briefly she drew in a steadying breath. "Listen to me LT. There are too many politics being played here. You've seen the proof…you know the Reapers are a real and imminent threat to this galaxy. Hackett and Anderson are just two voices amongst many that are trying to sweep this under the rug. We can't let this galaxy forget! No matter what happens, we HAVE to make sure Shepard's warnings and death are not in vain."

He squeezed her hand grim resolve filling his gaze. "You can be damn sure I won't Ashley. We'll do whatever it takes to keep her fight for the truth alive," he promised. Then he placed her hand back on the bed and patted her shoulder. "Now get some rest Chief. You look like shit and will scare the hell out of that beautiful woman in the bed next to you if she wakes up and see's you looking like that," he admonished gently.

With the last of her strength failing, she mumbled a barely intelligible 'yessir' before she slipped into unconsciousness. With a tired sigh of his own, Garvey sat back and surveyed the medbay which was crowded with his fellow crew-mates. His gaze fell on the equally exhausted Dr. Chakwas who was moving from bed to bed despite having been relieved from duty several hours ago. She looked up, noted his presence and nodded in approval. He knew that no matter how exhausted he was, there was no way he was going anywhere now. Pushing himself to his feet, he assumed a parade rest stance and prepared for a long night of standing watch over his people.


	3. A Note From the Author

Dear fans,

A number of you have been asking about the progress of this story and if I was continuing it. The response was a definitive yes, but I was assigned out of the country with a heavy workload that did not allow little time for writing for most of this year. I was finally allowed to come home a couple of months ago, in part due to some rising health concerns. I had resumed work on the story, and was hoping to get the next chapter out by the end of last month. However life has decided to kick my ass a little bit. Due to some serious health developments along with trying to cope with another serious family situation that arose, I regretfully have to put this story on the backburner right now while I get a handle on my health and deal with the other situation which requires my partner's and mine undivided attention. I will continue working on this as I can over the coming weeks, and I apologize for the delay, but I felt it only fair to give you all a heads up as to what is happening and my intentions. Thank you all for your encouragement with the story. It's meant a lot and will be what helps keep me encouraged to continue.

Sincerely,

~Firedancer34 ~


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